By now you've probably heard about the giant Kanye West brouhaha that happened at the VMA awards last night. I actually heard about it when I got on Twitter right after it happened, and it felt as though the very Internet was going to melt from the inside out, leaving us all twitching in a puddle of rage directed at people whom we will never meet.I tried to piece together what had happened, and from the responses I was reading, it seemed as though Taylor Swift went up to get her VMA, then Kanye West set her dress on fire, ripped off his clothes, and showed everyone his "Beyonce 4 EVA" tattoo located in a very family-unfriendly place. Then, I'm pretty sure he peed on like, a statue of Jesus or something.
So once I saw the video of what actually happened, imagine my surprise when it turned out all he did was make an ass out of himself on live television. Because, you know, the fact that Kanye West would do that is the BIGGEST SHOCKER OF ALL TIME.Pink, who was sitting in the audience tweeted (presumably from her seat), "Kanye West is the biggest piece of shit on earth. Quote me." So what did he do to earn such a title? He was rude to Taylor Swift.
Now I know that Taylor is only 19, and she was super-excited, and Kanye West is in his 30's and should know better. But dudes. He got up there, took the mic, apologized to Taylor and said that Beyonce had one of the greatest music videos of all time. He then gave the mic back to Taylor, and left the stage.
Was it the classiest thing in the world? No. Does it make him worse than Hitler? I wasn't a History major, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't. In fact, if you ask me, the whole thing looks kind of staged.
Kanye West is all about publicity, and the MTV is all about crazy stunts. It was just the beginning of June when people were freaking out because Bruno teabagged Eminem-- until it turned out to be a hoax. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it came out in a day or two that Taylor Swift, Kanye West, and Beyonce were all in on this. Beyonce and Kanye love publicity, not to mention the fact that "Single Ladies" was a pretty good video, and Taylor Swift has a sense of humor.
Whether it's a hoax or not, this is going to be in the news for the next week, at least. My prediction is that at the end of the week, all of the indignant blustering is going to look pretty embarrassing.
Watch the video and decide if it's a hoax or not for yourself, and when/if you should start burning Kanye West in effigy.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on 'Faces of America' and the Beer Summit
Six Reasons Why '24' Has Jumped the You-Know-What
The Super Bowl Commercials: The Best
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
9-14-2009 @ 10:55AM
Karen said...
Not a stunt, and part of what has everyone so upset in the not so thinly veil of racism that was so evident. Follow that by Diddy's comment about no problems in the next category because it was "all in the family"....add to that the escalated racism issue (due to politics) and you have understandable outrage!
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 11:40AM
jophiel said...
but everyone knows Kanye's a douche(I seriously think it might be mental see his other mtv meltdowns) and Diddy an egomaniac, at least Beyonce did the right thing.
9-14-2009 @ 2:13PM
Jogue said...
To be fair... I'm pretty sure Diddy's "All in the Family" comment had more to do with him not being able to compose himself and read the script he was supposed to. If you remember, he started off saying something like "Usher helps Neyo, Neyo helps blah, blah, blah." failed to complete it, tried and failed again and just ended it with "well its all in the family in this category." honestly dont think he was being racist...
9-14-2009 @ 10:58AM
Xina143 said...
HOax my butt! Not only was he an ass, but he embarrassed a young girl that was THRILLED to get that award! Did he murder hundreds of thousands of people...no, but was what he did necessary? Heck no...and the fact that he apologized before being rude to Taylor Swift somehow makes it no big deal in your eyes? Come on...
Maybe it was all about publicity, but it was tacky and ridiculous nonetheless. If he would have just kept his mouth shut for a few more hours he would have seen Beyonce win the award for BEst Music Video of the Year. NOT just best female, best period! She beat out Kayne for that one by the way.
Beyonce showed class by giving Taylor her time to make her thanks yous....Kayne just once again confirmed he is a HUGE ASS.
And Pink nailed it...another reason why she is so darn cool!
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 10:59AM
Galley said...
Taylor Swift is a sweet young woman, and Kanye West is a piece of crap.
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 11:00AM
Rich P said...
I would not be surprised if the whole Kanye thing was staged in this instant reaction twitter facebook myspace era.
Whether it was real or not, CNN, Huffington Post, and all media outlets on TV and online cover the event as if something of substance happened. The award show is just a publicity event for music and film and they accomplished their goals.
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 4:07PM
Steve said...
Agreed, well said.
9-14-2009 @ 11:00AM
Aurora said...
Bad behaviour is bad behaviour. He stole this young ladys moment, and she will never have that again. Beyonce showed class by asking her to come back and say what Taylor wanted to say originally. If you think this was a stunt you are very wrong. I hope this will finally open peoples eyes about Kanye and what a egotistical a** he is!
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 11:11AM
Amanda said...
Kanye West is a racist bully. It is attitudes like his, and Diddy's comments, that make race an issue. I truly believe that most 'white folk' got over the race issue a while ago. So a special thanks to Kanye, Diddy, Obama(yeah I said it), all the other racist 'black folk' out there. Way to keep the hatred buring. Good job.
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 6:04PM
Val said...
This comment is ridiculous. What does Obama have to do with what happen on the VMAs?!?!?!?!
9-15-2009 @ 7:55PM
Jen said...
And thus by invoking Obama, aka the President of the United States, in a conversation about MTV, you have completely invalidated your self-serving claim that white people are over the race issue and more significantly, revealed yourself for what you are.
9-14-2009 @ 11:11AM
RogueFace said...
The problem isn't that Kanye is an attention whore. We knew that, that is not a surprise. The problem is that a) he took away a moment from a girl who (deserving or not) was supposed to have it, b) Single Ladies is a stupid video which features Beyonce and two friends dancing and NOTHING ELSE, and c) Kanye West is a little bit racist and possibly mentally challenged. Seriously, did you read his apology on his blog? It reads at no better than a fourth grade level. I understand that there have been some serious anti-black racism in the past (ie slavery, segregation, etc) and that some ignorant folk are still just as racist as their grandparents were. Believe it or not, however, that doesn't mean that everything a black person does is better than anything any white person has ever done. Beyonce's video (no offense to the woman herself, as she is very talented) probably isn't the best video made on the day it was made. It's an irritating minimalist piece of s**t. At least Taylor Swift had some actual content/production value.
Sorry for the rant, but I saw the garbage that happened last night and i've been mildly irritated by it all morning, like an itch in the small of the back.
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 12:16PM
jophiel said...
I dont think Kanye comprehends complex theories like racism on an adult level don't know if it had anything to do with racism. Also T. Swift is a classy and nice girl, but there is no way that her vid(which was an elongated game of dress-up anchored by a plot used in EVERY disney movie EVER) was better than Beyonce's.
9-14-2009 @ 11:16AM
Amanda said...
An addendum if you will... I believe that many black people are over racism as well. Unfortunately it the more fortunate black people: ie. celebrities and athletes, that hold on to this hatred. They also reach the masses so much more than Jane and John Doe next door. Sad. Use your voice to spread positive messages and not to perpetuate hate.
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 12:20PM
jophiel said...
whether Kanye intended to be racist or not I think the majority of ppl/his fans~ will see how crazy he is.
9-14-2009 @ 11:18AM
Xina143 said...
Hoax my butt! Kayne West is an attention whore, as someone else mentioned, we all know it. But had he kept his ignorant mouth shut for another hour or so he would have seen Beyonce beat his ass out for Best Video of the year.
Beyonce showed class when she offered Taylor the chance to say her Thank yous.
West is a moron, which sucks because some of his music is great. Swift was thrilled to win that award and Kayne is more than welcome to share his opinion but to embarass a young girl like that only confirms what we all know...that is a whiny turd.
Pink nailed it...proving once again why she is so darn cool.
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 11:32AM
rob said...
100% HOAX!
There was a lower third chyron with Kayne's name AND title that came up nearly perfectly on cue (up when he appeared, on long enough to read). Anyone who has ever worked a live event (and I've worked many) would recognize that it would have to have been staged for the technical director to call that up so quickly.
Combined with everything else in this post and the pitch-perfect camera direction, I can say with CERTAINTY that this was something staged by atleave MTV & Kanye (maybe not Beyonce or Taylor, but who knows).
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 12:13PM
Jacki said...
The lower third with his name was not there during the broadcast. It was added after the fact by the AP.
9-14-2009 @ 11:38AM
patty.holmes said...
Think about it: had the situation be reversed, some young black singer won and some white guy (say Enimem) jump up there, you'll be seeing that clip for a month.
Kayne is talented, but sadly a douche. You feel bad for Taylor because if you're a teenager didn't expect to win and someone jumped in, drunk, still your thunder, you'd be dumbfounded too. Beyonce is a class act, that's that, regardless that her video had zero substance and been mocked to death. She's talented on her own right, and demonstrated class act.
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 11:42AM
jophiel said...
I think we will be...